What is required to make a ENJOYABLE trip down the rubicon?

Well.......the KMC Machetes in this photo are sort of never going to be available to the general public. ;) But I know what you are saying, when KMC begins producing the forged version of this wheel then yes, they will have been worth the wait. EVO1's Gold KMC's are billet milled custom pieces produced for the KMC team guys just for the Baja 1000. Badass wheel nonetheless :thumb:

He's back! Those wheels on Evo 1 for the Baja 500 look absolutely awesome. Drew had told me to wait a few months before ordering my wheels if I wanted to maybe go with something new and get a set of the new Machete beadlocks, but I ultimately went with the Slabs so I could have the 3.5" backspacing. PLus I REALLY like the look of the black Slabs with the bare aluminum ring. Don't know if I'm correct but I think I recall the backspacing on the new Machete beadlocks being mentioned as something like 4.5"? Those Dynaloc stub hubs on Evo 1 look to be almost out as far as the beadlock ring.

Do either of you know what the coating on those Machetes is? Is it a transparent powder coat or are they anodized?
 
Hmm over the last three years I haven't added a gas tank skid, relocated my evap, don't have a sector shaft brace and haven't "beefed up" my steering area. I've had no issues in the rubicon. Maybe you know something I don't.

Maybe you are taking the easy lines :D JKidding, but honestly the failures we are seeing on the trail on JK's and rigs we towed out of trails have been on the stock housings (front and rear), and people running 35" or larger tires on stock steering components and without support on the sector shaft. All of the stock stuff hanging unprotected underneath is pretty vulnerable, so that is an area I would invest my money first before swapping a bumper, my $02. cents

We took 4 Jk's out as well with broken sector shafts in less than a 8 month period. For one guy we jimmy rigged a winch on one side and pinched his other break line. Stomp on break, steer one way, use winch to steer the other way, fun stuff ;)

For the OP, good read here, also shows what happened with Eddie's sector shaft at guess... Rubicon trail:

main.php


http://wayalife.com/showthread.php?...VO1-s-Final-Run-Through-the-Old-Little-Sluice

jkportal.jpg
Pic at the Rubicon last year, I have seen two more since (one spun the pass side only). This was on a Stock Rubi rear (had a G2 cover). The rosetta welds broke and the axle had a dream come true that it was a portal axle ;) We were pretty surprised the rear shaft and t-case were not impacted.
 
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Maybe you are taking the easy lines :D JKidding, but honestly the failures we are seeing on the trail on JK's and rigs we towed out of trails have been on the stock housings (front and rear), and people running 35" or larger tires on stock steering components and without support on the sector shaft. All of the stock stuff hanging unprotected underneath is pretty vulnerable, so that is an area I would invest my money first before swapping a bumper, my $02. cents

We took 4 Jk's out as well with broken sector shafts in less than a 8 month period. For one guy we jimmy rigged a winch on one side and pinched his other break line. Stomp on break, steer one way, use winch to steer the other way, fun stuff ;)

For the OP, good read here, also shows what happened with Eddie's sector shaft at guess... Rubicon trail:

http://wayalife.com/showthread.php?...VO1-s-Final-Run-Through-the-Old-Little-Sluice

Pic at the Rubicon last year, I have seen two more since (one spun the pass side only). This was on a Stock Rubi rear (had a G2 cover). The rosetta welds broke and the axle had a dream come true that it was a portal axle ;) We were pretty surprised the rear shaft and t-case were not impacted.

Who is we?
 
Eddie what have you heard? I love my Powerplant, but would love to know beforehand of any potential problems...

I am currently having problems with my Powerplant. Something to do with the compressor part. I'll let everyone know when I know.
 
For the OP, good read here, also shows what happened with Eddie's sector shaft at guess... Rubicon trail:

main.php


http://wayalife.com/showthread.php?...VO1-s-Final-Run-Through-the-Old-Little-Sluice

To be fair, this is a DROPPED PITMAN ARM, something I have long since stopped running but had racked up well over 100,000 miles on. If you're running one, a sector shaft brace "might" help but from what I've seen, probably not. Of course, I'm just a mall crawler so what would I know. I still don't run a sector shaft brace.

I too would like to know who you're referring to when you say "we"?
 
Eddie what have you heard? I love my Powerplant, but would love to know beforehand of any potential problems...

A handful of my friends who all have PowerPlants have had issues with the compressor. A few have had problems with the winch itself but then, the two are to a degree, tied together. I should note that I have a very old one and haven't had these problems.

I am currently having problems with my Powerplant. Something to do with the compressor part. I'll let everyone know when I know.

Quite a few people I know have problems with it as well.
 
Who is we?

Adam an Eddie hi, group of friends and wheelers and our Jeep club (we are in the SF Bay Area). We do several runs in the Northern CA area, we also wheel with other jeepers and several clubs and open to anyone, trail clean ups and maintenance etc. I think my last 6-8 trips involved getting someone out of the trail one way or another. About 10 days ago an Oakland fireman with his wife and2 smalls kids got stuck in the Strawberry area (JK would not go into 4 wheel), and message went to the group and a couple guys got him extracted.

As far as the broken sec shafts, I will try finding pics. The guy with the rigged winch had a stock height pitman on his JK. Either way I would recommend someone on the group carrying a spare (and seals) and knowing how to do the swap.

To the OP, if yo are coming from across the US, make sure you bring spares on stuff and split between yourselves, because shit will break. Also get a hold of a couple local guys or groups here and have some contact info handy.

Cheers,

Gui
 
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A handful of my friends who all have PowerPlants have had issues with the compressor. A few have had problems with the winch itself but then, the two are to a degree, tied together. I should note that I have a very old one and haven't had these problems.



Quite a few people I know have problems with it as well.

I'll keep an eye out. Mine has two years on the jeep and I've used the compressor a fair bit more than the winch. I hope mine lives the rest of it's days trouble free...
 
Thanks for the help guys. Still trying to process some of the stuff since im pretty new at adding protection to the underside since down here in florida we have a lot of mud but not rocks hahahaah. Those wheels look absolutely badass BTW!
 
Thanks for the help guys. Still trying to process some of the stuff since im pretty new at adding protection to the underside since down here in florida we have a lot of mud but not rocks hahahaah. Those wheels look absolutely badass BTW!

:thumb:

general thread consensus:

add an oil pan skid, and an auto trans skid if your jeep is automatic to your current list
Take your list and maybe shop around/do a bit more research on specific brands & models before spending the money. But your basically there...

Oh, and Mel's Beadlock wheels! :eek: It wouldn't be an enjoyable trip to the Rubicon without Mel's wheels ;)
 
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Sweet looking wheels! Any pics on how thy are faring after meeting some rocks (i.e. damage to allen bolt threads)?
 
I really want these on my jk8, minus the gold :)

These are definitely my favorites from KMC (formerly ATX). Your JK8 would look great wearing these

I'm not much for bling on my Jeep, but good lord those wheels are sweet! How long till we see EvoJeep running them? Lol!

Probably will not see them on EVOJEEP. I like the shallower backspacing of the Slabs, gives me less issues with front tire rubbing. However, a set of Machetes could end up on the Super Duty tow rig [emoji12]
 
These are definitely my favorites from KMC (formerly ATX). Your JK8 would look great wearing these



Probably will not see them on EVOJEEP. I like the shallower backspacing of the Slabs, gives me less issues with front tire rubbing. However, a set of Machetes could end up on the Super Duty tow rig [emoji12]

Those Machete wheels would definitely look awesome on the new Super Duty.
 
:thumb:

general thread consensus:

add an oil pan skid, and an auto trans skid if your jeep is automatic to your current list
Take your list and maybe shop around/do a bit more research on specific brands & models before spending the money. But your basically there...

Oh, and Mel's Beadlock wheels! :eek: It wouldn't be an enjoyable trip to the Rubicon without Mel's wheels ;)

Hey guys,
Was trying to find the right skid setup that everyone was talking about. Im not trying to push any brand or anything on here, but Ive been aving a hard time finding an automatic transmision skid. I only finding things like this that say oil pan and transmission skid.

http://www.quadratec.com/products/12065_3X30_PG.htm

Is that what i need or do i also need the transfer case skid as well?

http://www.quadratec.com/products/12065_3X00_PG.htm
 
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